Earth moving scraper



Mirth 25, 1947. E, ER 5 2,418,041

EARTH MOVING SCRAIBR Filed April 4, 1945.

29 [ammo MEYER T50 Jl POPPE 5W away/1 Patented T 25, it?

'NITED STATES PAT EARTH MOVING SCBAPER Edward Meyer, Sioux Falls, andTed J. Poppe,

Parker, S. Dak.; said Poppe Meyer assignor to said Application April 4,1945, Serial No. 586,490

This invention relates to improvements in cable operated earth movingscrapers, and in particular to a method and apparatus fofretrieving andreplacing sliding sheave blocks and control cables which have becomedisplaced as by the breakage of control cables.

The structure of certain machines of this type includes an open toppedinclined channel-or guideway in which sliding and fixed sheave blocksare located. Control cable's, generally of steel, pass over the sheavesin these blocks for the 'purpose of operating the movable parts of themachine. F

Large forces aretransmitted and applied by these cables and theyoccasionally break. When such breakage occurs the sliding sheave blockswith the usual tools.

We have devised a simplified method and apparatus for returning thesliding, sheave blocks and the steel cables thereon back to" theirnormal position in a very small time 'and substantially' without anyexpenditure of manual labor in the operation, a

It is accordingly a primary object of our invention to provide animproved methodand apparatus for retrieving and replacingdisplaced;units of a mechanism including sliding, sheave,

blocks and the sheaves and cables thereon.

It is another object of our invention to utilize certain relativemotions between normally operating elements of a flereible, cableoperated device to retrieve and return other elements to their normaloperatin position'when'displaced therefrom.

It is another major object of our invention to provide an attachment forearth moving cable operated machines which is operable to returnelements of the cable system to normal position when displacedtherefrom. a

Figure 1 is a side elevation, with parts broken away illustrating anembodiment of our invention applied to a machine of the general typewith which it is adapted to be used.

Figure 2 isan enlarged view of a part of Figure 1 showing our devicearranged for retrieving a sheave block.

GClaims. (Cl. 37- 126) Figure is a partial sectional view along line 3--3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

The machine shown in Figure 1 is one embody ing a control cablearrangement similar to that shown in the Le Tourneau Patent No.2,288,629 and a lift control mechanism similar to that to the upper andfront part of the beam l2. The

scraper is supported at its rear end by wheels M. The front part of thescraper is attached by a pivoted connection If: to front wheels 16 on agooseneck unit 11. A tripod frame having a pair of legs l8 and a frontleg l9 joined at their upper ends is fastened at its lower ends to theunit I! as shown. A bracket 20 is fastened to,,the top of the beam l2and the frame I3 at their juncture, the bracket having spaced walls 2|and 22 as shown in Figure 3, there beinga push bar 23 having a slidingmovement within the bracket 20 and longitudinally of, the scraper. Atits front end the push bar 23 has apivoted connection to the,

tripod formed by the legs I8 and I 9. The sliding movement of the pushbar within the bracket 20 may be facilitated by a pair of rollers 24 and25 journalled for rotation on the walls 2i and 22 and engaginghorizontally extending flanges formed inany suitable manner, forexample, by recesses in the side walls of the push bar 23 as illustratedin Figure 3.

A sheave 28 is also journalled for rotation between the walls 2| and 22of the bracket 20 as shown, having a horizontal shaft 29 passing throughthe walls. At its rear end the push bar 23 has asheave 30 journalledabout a horizontal shaft 3i. A flexible steel control cable 32 ismstened at one end to a fitting 33 on the top of the bracket 20. Thecable 32 passes backward, around the sheave 30, then forward. over thesheave 28, and through a sheave 34 fastened to th goosencck i! to apower operated device such as a Windlass on the tractor or other device(not shown) which pulls the scraper by means of a draw bar 35 or thelike. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, when the cable32 is pulled it moves the push bar 23 forward through the bracket 22,thus separating the bracket and the top of the tripod so that thescraper is lifted out of contact with the ground, as in the V positionin which it is shown in Figured. A release of the tension in the cable32 results in the lowering of the scraper until it rests upon theground, and the push bar, bracket, and tripod are moved to substantiallythe relative positions shown in Figure 2. It is to be understood thatmore than one sheave 30 may be used and that a sheave may be mounted onthe bracket to obtain a powerincreasing arrangement to lift the weightof the scraper. but t e arrangementshown is sufllcient to theillustration of the application of our invention, as will be apparent.It is also to be understood that our invention is equally applicable tothe arrangement shown in the afore said Patent 2,288,629whereinthe'pushbar is pivotally attached to the juncture of the 'wish-"bone frame and the inclined beam, and has sliding engagement with thetripod extending upward from the gooseneck, since as will be described,th operation of our invention results from the separation'of saidjuncture and tripod when the scraper is lifted from the ground.

On thetop'of, the beam 12 and substantially parallel thereto, thescraper has an open topped channel including a, pair of vertical sidewalls of which only one is shown, identified by the reference number 38,the other-being removed to show the" disposition of the sheaves andcables therebetween. At the rear of the aforesaid channel,

are located a pair of fixed mountings 39 and 40 having sheaves 4|. 42and 43 rotatably mounted thereon. form guideways for them, are a pair ofsliding sheavebloc'ks 44 and 45, each having rotatable sheaves therein.A main pull cable 46 having its front end attached to' a power drivenWindlass or,

the like on the tractor or other device. passes through and around thesheave blocks 44 and 45 and the sheaves 4|, 42. and 43, serving to pullthe sheave blocks down. :the incl ne of theguideway formed by the wal1s38, whereby cables 41 and 48 attached to the sliding blocks, operate topull the tailgate .49 forward and the apron 50 upwards' The operation ofthe cable and sheave arrange- Between the spaced walls 38, which meritdescribed is' similar to that described and shown in Figure 2 of theaforesaid Patent 2,288,629 andiis well known to those skilled in theart. r I

It occasionally happens that one or more of the is generally a-tensionin the cables passing over aforesaid cab es breaks. When this occursthere the sheaves 4| to 43 to and from the sheaves in the sliding blocks44 and 45, and the sliding blocks will slide downwardly and to the leftas viewed in Figures 1 and 2. This res lts in a jamming of the slidingblocks 44 and 45, together with the loosened cable. within the guidewaybetween the walls 38. Heretofore, in order to retrieve the slidingsheave blocks and cable. wh ch are heavy, greasy. and dirty, at least anhour of hard manual labor has been required. By the'use of ourinvention, the manual labor is substantially eliminated and the timenecessary has been reduced to a negligible amount. I

. As best shown in the enlarged view of Figure 2, where the cablesbetween the walls 38 are not illustrated in. order to s mplify theshowing. slid ing sheave blocks 44 and 45 have hooks 5| and 52 fastenedto'- them as shown in the drawings.

One of the legs I8 of the tripod on the gooseneck H has a series of smilar hooks 53, 54. etc. An-

other similar hook 55 is attached to the sheave block 30,-on the bottomportion as shown. A pulley- 56 rotatable about a substantiallyhorizontal axis is mounted on a gusset plate 51 or the like attached tothe tripod near the top thereof.

A flexible steel cable 58 normally has one end hooked over the hook 55,then passes over the pulley 56 and downward'to the lowermost hook 53 onthe leg 18. Suitable means are provided on the ends of the cable topermit it to be hooked in this manner. When the scraper is operatingnormally the cable 58 is in the above described location, being storedin such position so that it is available for immediate use withoutthreading it through the pulley 56. It will be foundconvenient to have aspring attached to the cable .between one end and the hook at that end,so

' that there willbe no slack in the'cable when storedl Y Now when one ofthe control cables breaks and Y the sheave blocks slide downas describedbefore, the cable' 58 is brought into operation; The upper end of thecable is unhooked from 55 and placed over the hook 52 on the sheaveblock 45. In order to do this the other end of'the cable must beunhooked from the lowermost hook on the leg. I 8.

Cable 32 is slackened so that the scraper rests upon thejground and thepush bar 23 moves back to the relative position shown in Figure 2.,After placing one end of the cableover the hook 52 the cable is pulledtight and the other end placed over the hook on leg l8 nearest to thatend. No

spring is used to take the slack out of the cable, as when it is merelystored. With both ends of the cable hooked as described the cable 32 isU wound on the Windlass again so that the scraper.

is lifted from the ground and the push bar 23 moved forwardto separatethe bracket 20 and the top of the tripod. As this operation proceeds.

the cable 58 will pull theysheave block with its:v

attached cables upwardly andto the right as viewed in Figuresl and 2. Ifthe sheave block 45' has not been returned'to its proper position by onesuch operation it is .held in place While the scraper is lowered to theground again. Now the 7 end of cable 58 is moved to a lower hook on theleg I8; After this the scraper is raised from the ground again asdescribed before, moving the In order to keep from moving the block 45.too far block 45 farther upward and to the right.

its movement must be observed andthe raising of the scraper stopped atthe proper point; Aften the sheave block 45 is retrieved in this manner.it is fastened in its proper place and the sheave block 44 is retrievedin the same manner; After they have both been retrieved the cable 58 isun-. 1

hooked and returned to its storage position; out of the way, and anynecessary repair to the cables passing through the sheave blocks may beproceeded with;

By the use of our method and apparatus the retrieving of the sheaveblocks is made a simple and quick powered operation rather than theawkward time-consuming manual operation as scope of the invention beingindicated by theappended claims rather than'by the foregoingdescription, and all changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Whatis claimed and desired to be secured by v United States LettersPatent is:

1. In an earth-moving implement; a scraper one leg said tripod, a hookon said pushbar adjacent its free end, a hook on each said sheave block,a pulley adjacent the top of said having a wheeled support at one endand adapted to rest upon the ground at the other end; loadingandunloading meanson saidscraper; means for operating said loading andunloading-means comprising a combination of guideways, sliding sheaveblocks and a cable running through said blocks; lifting means for saidother end of said scraper, pivotally attached to said scraper and 7having a portion operableto swing away from i said scraper and saidcombination when lifting said other end; and means constructed'andarranged to connect the sliding blocks of said com- }"binationtemporarily .to said portion, for relative imovement in the samedirection with respect to said scraper as said'portion-when said portionswings away from said scraper, to shift said slid- 120 2. In anearth-moving implement, a scraper ing blocks when'jammed in said,guideways.

passing through said pulley on each end for engaging any of saidhooks,'whereby one end of said cable is attachable to said hooks on saidleg, and the other end of said cable may be attached alternately eitherto the hook on said push bar or to a hook on one of said sheave blocks.

4. The method of retrieving the sliding sheave tripod, anda cable andhaving means .blocks'and cable's'whic'h'slide in a guideway ofa cableoperated load moving apparatus wherein one part of said apparatus-ismovablewith re-, spect to the guideway', comprising connecting saidmovable part ofsaid apparatus to one oi.

said sheave blocks by a connection extending substantially inlinewith'the normal direction of having a wheeled support at one end andadapted to rest upon the ground at the other end; a first tripodstructure fixed to the top oi said scraper and including aninclinedbeam; an inclined guideway supported by said beam;-. loading andunloading devices on said scraperymeans for actuating said'loadingandunloading devices comprising a combination of sliding sheave blocks andcableswithinsaid guideway; a second tripod structure pivotally attachedat a base thereoftof said scraper at the said other end; means having apivoted connection with the top of one of said tripod structures and asliding connection with the top of the other of said tripod structures;

means operable to drive said last mentioned means to separate thetops'of said tripod structures whereby the said otherend of saidscraperis lifted, from the ground; and a cable adapted to be temporarilyconnected at one end to eitheroi said sliding sheave blocksand at theother end to the apex of saidsecond tripod, whereby movement of the apexof said second tripod with gespect to said firsttripod structure willshift the sliding sheave block to which'it is connected towards the apexof said first tripod structure.

3. In an earth moving apparatus wherein a scraper unit is operated bycontrol cables passing through and around a system including slid-J ingsheave blocks having sliding motion in a guideway afflxed to the top ofsaid scraper unit and wherein one end of said scraper unit is raisedfrom the ground by rotating a tripod frame which is pivotally'attachedat a base portion thereof to said one end of said unit, there 'being apush bar having pivoted engagement at one end with the top or the tripodand sliding engagement along its length inv a bracket on the top or saidguideway and poweroperated means to actuate the push bar and rotate thetripod about its pivot; a series or books along f cable means connectedatone end a and passing around said sheave so as movement of said sheaveblocks, and applying power. to said movable part to shift it and therebypull the 'sheave block to its normal position in the guideway. a I

5. A' pulley block'retriever for use with a cable operated, load movingframework pivotally connected to I way for a a'gooseneck unit andproviding a guidepulley block comprising a bracket supported by saidframework; a'push bar supported at one end from said gooseneck unit andslidingly connected to said bracket; a'sheave journalled at the free endof saidpush bar; power operated to said bracket to move said push barrelative tosaid bracket; cable securing and guiding means carried bysaid gooseneck unit; and a'second cable operably associated with saidcable securing and guidingmeans and havadapted for attachment to ajammed, out-of-position pulley block disposed in said guideway torestoresaid pulley block to its normal working position upon said relativemovement of said push bar and bracket.

6. The combination defined in claim 4 wherein saidcable securing andguiding means comprises a hook on said gooseneck unit for receiving saidother end of said second cable and a second sheave journalled on saidgooseneck unit and arranged to direct the run of said second cablebetween said one end of said cable and said secondsheave in a directionsubstantially parallel to said guideway.

EDWARD MEYER.

TED J. POPPE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,288,629 Le Tourneau July 7,1942 2,288,630 Le Tourneau July "I, 1942

